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Pediatrics - Family Support Assessment Clinic

When families experience complicated issues that create a crisis, there can be serious consequences for children. These experiences might include:

a diagnosis of serious illness of a child or parent

an acute traumatic event including violence in the family or community

admission of an infant to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)

a non-medical traumatic event

a dramatic change in the family dynamic through death, divorce, separation or any other event

When these events occurred and families are overwhelmed, the Family Support Assessment Clinic can help parents cope with whatever caused the event, and help gain support from extended family, community, school, church, etc. Doing so helps address isolation, a hallmark of traumatic loss. The Clinic works with the child’s primary doctor and parents to:

help the parent more fully understand what the trauma means to the child

recognize symptoms of the stressor

use language more effectively

access additional resources when necessary

Families meet with clinic staff for approximately an hour during the first visit. The clinician will take a history of events and to discuss specific psychological and/or educational interventions that may help. Follow-up visits may be scheduled if the family wishes further support in the future.